Sharon Kim
Top rated Employment & Labor attorney in New York, New York
Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP
Practice areas: Employment & Labor, Civil Litigation; view more
Licensed in New York since: 2017
Education: Harvard Law School
Selected to Rising Stars: 2025 Call today:
646-791-4848
Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP
17 State StreetSuite 3700
New York, NY 10004 Visit website
Sharon Kim, a senior litigation counsel at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP, navigates the legal landscape with a focus on financial services disputes, public interest causes, and workplace discrimination and retaliation. With offices sprawling across New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, La Jolla and Palo Alto, California, as well as Nashville, Tennessee, she brings her formidable legal acumen to the forefront. Licensed to practice in New York since 2017, her courtroom presence extends to:
- The U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
- The U.S. District Courts for the Central and Southern Districts of Illinois
- The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
Ms. Kim's educational journey began at Harvard University, where she graduated with top honors and accolades such as the Thomas T. Hoopes Prize and the Ethnic Studies Senior Thesis Prize, which recognized her compelling work on Cambodia post-genocide. Her legal education at Harvard Law School was marked by hands-on experience with the Criminal Justice Institute and the Education Law Clinic, complemented by internships at prestigious institutions like the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Before embarking on her current role, Ms. Kim honed her skills at prestigious law firms, delving into complex commercial and pro bono litigation, as well as government investigations and regulatory affairs. Her notable achievements include playing a pivotal role in a case in which trustees of a nurses’ pension plan successfully challenged a former investment manager's self-dealing practices under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act.
In her pro bono endeavors, Ms. Kim has championed causes such as sex and pregnancy discrimination, excessive force and special education, while also addressing fair housing, gun control and voting rights issues. Additionally, she contributed her talents as a vice president in the litigation finance division of an investment management firm. Celebrated in Profiles in Diversity Journal's 2024 Women Worth Watching in Leadership, she was featured in news coverage for her role in the case "Capital Group Can’t Force 401(k) Fund Suit To Arbitration," Law360, August 13, 2024.
Practice areas
Employment & Labor: Employee, Civil Litigation: PlaintiffFocus areas
Employment Law - Employee, Labor Law, Sexual Harassment, Unions, Wage & Hour Laws, Whistleblower
- 60% Employment & Labor: Employee
- 40% Civil Litigation: Plaintiff
First Admitted: 2017, New York
Professional Webpage: https://sanfordheisler.com/team/sharon-kim/
Bar / Professional Activity
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- New York
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Representative Clients
- Ms. Kim is co-counsel for the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit, Arthur Anderson and Manuel Rivera, et al. v. Southwest Airlines Co., et al. filed in January 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The lawsuit alleges that Southwest has breached and continues to breach its fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by failing to remove a chronically underperforming investment option, the Harbor Capital Appreciation Fund, from the company'401(k) retirement plan. The failure to remove the fund has resulted in millions of dollars in losses to the retirement savings of some 60,000 individuals who are participants and beneficiaries of the plan., 2025
- Ms. Kim is co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in a class action lawsuit alleging algorithmic bias in claims processing against State Farm Fire and Casualty, in violation of the Fair Housing Act. The Complaint alleges that State Farm’s use of algorithms in its claims-processing methods disproportionately impacts Black policyholders by flagging their claims for greater scrutiny than those of white policyholders, causing delays in urgent repairs and in the payment of benefits, impacting quality of life, and devaluing damaged homes., 2025
- Ms. Kim is co-counsel for the plaintiffs in class action litigation against The Capital Group Companies, Inc., alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The lawsuit, filed in December 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of plaintiffs and some 11,000 participants in the Capital Group's 401(k) plan, alleges the Capital Group mismanaged the plan by failing to prudently monitor and remove five of the plan’s investment funds that had significantly underperformed for nearly a decade compared to their own benchmarks and to other similar investment funds, resulting in millions of dollars in losses to plaintiffs., 2025
Educational Background
- Harvard, B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, 2012
Selections
- Rising Stars: 2025
